Made In The Shade - Kids: Meet The Musicians


In the summer of 1990 a group was formed for a Berklee College of Music recital and instantly this handful of guys knew that something special had occurred. The seed was officially sown when the following summer on the Fourth of July, these scrappy lads hit the streets of Boston playing this New Orleans jazz they were beginning to love. Armed with only a handful of tunes they busked to the throngs of people passing through the Common. It turned out to be fruitful and as the coins and bills flew into the banjo case. Realizing how fun this music was to play combined with its potential to help pay rent, these music school grads were ready to take on the world. They did just that the next summer with a 13 countries, three month, street tour of Europe, picking up many gigs and crashing festivals along the way. The rest you can say is history as the band went on to tour and record for the next 20 years. They realized the joy of playing for kids and turning people on to jazz who might not have thought they liked it. Made in the Shade joined the roster of Young Audiences of MA in 1995 and have performed for thousands of kids at hundreds of schools across the country. The Musicians
		Trombone and Bass Graduating Berklee in 1992, Dan, a founding member, has performed throughout Europe and Asia with a number of acclaimed acts. In his spare time, Dan enjoys wrestling with his son, playing guitar and drums, and taking his daughter to violin lessons. For more info on Dan, go to www.danfox.com
		Strings Also a founding member, Crick graduated from Berklee in 1991. He plays many different musical instruments from mandolin to steel drums, but his unorthodox banjo style has been a staple of Made in the Shade from the beginning. Crick loves playing with his kids, driving his car and spending countless hours at the supermarket.
		Drums John, who also finished Berklee in 1991 joined Made in the Shade in 1994 and helped kick things into high gear with his boundless energy. John has backed a long list of jazz luminaries in New England and New York. John's hobbies include eating his mom's home cooking and watching Sunday football.
		Trumpet Mike grew up in Sydney, Australia and came to Boston to attend Berklee in the early 80's. Mike joined Made in the Shade in 1994 and his virtuosic trumpet playing routinely make peoples' eyes pop out of their heads. He is said to be able to play a note so high that dogs can only hear it. Not a pet owner, Mike enjoys time with his lovely wife and then enjoys staying up until 3 a.m. practicing trumpet after she goes to bed.
Our Friends
		Tuba... duh Our good friend the Tubantor doesn't speak like you or me. He speaks tubatalk because he IS the tuba. We often have to help Tubanator find his way out of tricky situations. This often causes confusion and delay but it is all worth it in the end. We love Tubanator and he always makes us think about the important things in life.
		Trumpet What would we do without Shader Gator? He's taught us all we know about jazz and where it came from. Shader Gator has always helped us learn how to get along with each other and he taught us how to use teamwork to get things done.